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Jamel Slater holds her granddaughter Sanaa Soul at Mary Washington Hospital yesterday afternoon. Slater helped deliver the baby at home.
Whitney Williams holds her 1-day-old daughter, |
BY JONAS BEALS
The moment Stafford County resident Whitney Williams went into labor, she told her mother to call 911.
By the time an ambulance arrived, the 22-year-old Williams had given birth to a healthy 8-pound, 12-ounce baby girl named Sanaa Hadassah Soul. It all happened in minutes.
When the EMTs arrived, they found the newborn curled up on her mother's stomach. They also found a proud grandmother and a helpful neighbor--the amateur obstetricians who had just delivered their first baby.
"She wanted a home birth," said Williams' mother, Jamel Slater, "but we never planned for one. When she told me to call, I knew I didn't have much time. I called 911, and I called LouAnn."
Lou Ann Epps is a neighbor in Briarwood Estates and longtime family friend.
Epps, whose husband, Keith, is a reporter at The Free Lance-Star, said that she always wanted to be a doctor, but never went down that career path. She does have some emergency medical training and the experience of having five children of her own.
When Epps got there, Williams was on the living-room sofa and the baby was already crowning. Epps caught the baby's head as it emerged, untangling the umbilical cord from the baby's neck.
"I just went on autopilot," Epps said. Williams "was wonderful. It was spectacular."
The EMTs double-checked the women's effort and gave them high marks before cutting the umbilical cord.
"I told them that 'the doctor' took care of everything," Slater said, pointing at Epps and laughing.
All three women said they would do it again. Even after mother and baby were transported to Mary Washington Hospital by ambulance, Epps and Slater were still smiling. So was Williams, satisfied and exhausted.
"It's still a little like a dream," Williams said hours after giving birth. "I felt like I was in God's hands. My mom did a good job."
The next surprise will come when her husband, Kevin, finds out about his new daughter and the circumstances of her birth. He is incommunicado as he endures Navy boot camp in Michigan.
It was the second delivery for Williams, who has a 2-year-old daughter named Destiny. Her first was much less eventful--a standard hospital procedure. Williams was pleased that her youngest came into the world in such a unique fashion.
"It will be a great story to tell her when she grows up," she said.
Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com
